fragrance

When it comes to scents, you always remember your first. The year was 2008 and while I was a beauty fanatic, I had never bought or worn a perfume before (I know, shocking but true!). But when Chloé launched its signature scent that year, I felt like it was made just for me. The scent was light, playful and easy to wear, the bottle was chic and the campaign was unlike any campaign I’d seen before. The ads featured perennial It girls Chloë Sevigny, Anja Rubik and Clémence Poésy in close-cropped black and white shots taken by Inez & Vinoodh.

I’ve always had a special place in my heart (and on my vanity) for Chloé, as that’s where my love affair with fragrance began. So when I was recently given the chance to chat with Dree Hemingway, the face of the fashion house’s latest eau, Fleur de Parfum, I was excited. I’ve been a fan of Dree for years—a shoot she did for Vogue Nippon in 2010 served as serious inspo for me when I was working as a makeup artist, and I’ve always loved her effortlessly cool style. She was so laid-back and lovely IRL (and patient as I grilled her on how to get her perfectly tousled beach hair). Here are all of her need-to-know beauty and fragrance secrets, but spoiler alert: She doesn’t have a formula for beachy waves, girl doesn’t even use a blow dryer (!).

On why she loves Chloé’s signature scent:
“I think the image for me was the most iconic thing. I think it was the epitome of the woman I wanted to grow up to be when I was younger. Everything about it is just light, nothing too heavy or serious, and I really like that about the fragrance. And it’s just so pretty.”

On reuniting with photographers Inez and Vinoodh to shoot the Fleur de Parfum campaign:
“It’s amazing because Inez and Vinoodh were the first people to kind of take a chance on me in the modelling industry, the first ones to be like, ‘We’re going to put her in an editorial, we’re going to put her in campaigns.’ I call them ‘mom and dad’ cause they’ve been so supportive. When this came around [they photographed Dree for the Chloé signature campaign], I hadn’t shot with them in a bit, and it was incredible reuniting with them and the Chloé family and building this whole bond.”

On what she looks for when picking a fragrance:
“I really like things that are less in your face and aggressive. I like [my scents] to kind of embody my personality and how I’m feeling at the time. I think that a fragrance says a lot about a person, even how they apply it or even just the different notes in it. I don’t like anything too musky and intense. I never want anything to wear me; I want it to melt into who I am.

On her idea of the Chloé woman:
“I think she’s free, I think she’s adventurous, I think she breaks the rules. She’s mischievous and doesn’t take herself too seriously.”

On her beauty and fashion role models:
“My aunt Margaux is one of my biggest beauty and fashion icons. I’ll reference most of her photos about her time just as a way of feeling and being and dressing. Katharine Hepburn is another one. But also there’s something I really just admire about women on the street. I like watching people, especially from different cultures. You get lots of inspiration. A lot of these women just have confidence and know who they are, and I feel like that’s the biggest thing. [Another one is] Anita Pallenberg, but a lot of my fashion inspiration has come from editorials so I guess it’s the stylist. I love Fran Burns’s styling.”

On her secrets to great skin:
“It’s very simple. I go to a facialist in New York called Ling Skincare who got me into hydrating masks. But I don’t like sheet masks, I think they are kind of messy. I’ve tried them and I like the idea of them when you’re lying in a chair and it’s on your face and you’re not doing anything, but when I put on a facial mask I want to do everything all of a sudden. I also like to use a vitamin C serum at night and a good moisture serum in the morning.”

Her beauty essentials:
“I always have lip balm and concealer on me, and I’ll keep a bronzer but mostly for the mirror.”

On how she gets her perfect beach wave hair:
“I used to have this little [blow dryer] I bought because I thought it was bad to go outside with wet hair in the winter, but now I don’t use it at all. Sometimes it feels better to have natural oils in [your hair]. I shampoo my hair once a week and then use conditioner. I can’t shampoo my hair every day or else I feel like I look like a poodle. I used to really like dry shampoo but I don’t like it anymore because I feel like it makes my hair dirty. I like the oil in your hair, I think it’s good for you.”